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Darius Rucker has had a lot going on in his life over the last few years from the separation from his wife, Beth Leonard, to helping to raise three children into adulthood. All the experiences influenced his new album, Carolyn’s Boy, which is named for his late mother.

The album features the song “Sara,” which he wrote with Ed Sheeran about his fifth-grade girlfriend.

“That song for me is so special. And it was Ed’s idea. And the best part of it is that there are so many love songs, there are so many break-up songs, there’s not very many friendship songs. And that song, I just love. That’s something I love about it. It says, I don’t want to be anything but your friend. I just want to see my friend who I haven’t seen in a long time and I love that.”

It also features “Never Been Over”, a song he co-wrote with John Osborne of Brothers Osborne and Lee Miller, and contains direct references to Rucker’s recent amicable divorce after 20 years of marriage to his wife Beth.

In an interview with Taste of Country Nights, Rucker stops short of calling the song his favorite and acknowledges the need to perform it during his upcoming European tour. When asked if this was his first time discussing his divorce Rucker said,

“Yeah, that was the first time I wrote a song about it and it was really — yeah, that was a tough song to write. It’s a tough song to sing. I love it.” “It was almost like therapy for me. It’s so honest and one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.”